This invention relates generally to safety apparatus and more particularly to a system for releasable securement to some portion of a building to serve as an anchor for a personnel safety device to be releasably connected thereto.
Due to the enactment of various safety laws, persons working at elevated positions, e.g., on steel construction beams of a building as it is erected, etc., are required to be protected against falls. One common approach to achieve that end is the use of a safety belt which is worn on the worker's waist. The belt includes a D-ring or some other metal loop fixedly mounted on the belt in the center of the portion located at the worker's back. The D-ring is arranged to be "tied off" (connected), via a lanyard, to a fixed supporting member or anchor point. The anchor point may be any fixed portion, e.g. an I-beam, of the building which is strong enough to support the worker's weight. The securement of the lanyard to the anchor point is typically accomplished by wrapping the lanyard at least once about the anchor point, e.g., I-beam. Thus, once the worker is tied off should he/she fall off of the structure he/she will be prevented from falling to the ground.
While this technique of preventing falls is generally suitable for its intended purposes it never the less suffers from some drawbacks. For example, by wrapping the lanyard at least once about the anchor point the already relatively short standard lanyard (e.g., typically six feet in length) is substantially reduced, thereby severely restricting the worker's mobility. If the lanyard is wrapped about a vertical member and is not held at the point at which it is wrapped about the member, it will likely slide down the member to the lowest point that it can. In so doing the worker may be exposed to a drop in excess of six feet, thereby violating OSHA regulations, before the lanyard becomes taut to preclude further droppage. Moreover, and most importantly, if the lanyard is wrapped about an anchor point which has sharp edges, such as an I-beam, its strength can be effectively reduced by as much as seventy percent due to friction.
The prior art has not addressed the foregoing factors in an adequate manner heretofore.